


a little sun shower'll fall upon you

by cinderlily



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 22:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7549354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He thought of it as his Grown Up Max plan. </p>
<p>1) He was done listening to the media. It wasn’t worth it to have all his decisions under a microscope and he didn’t need it in his life. <br/>2) His dad, as much as he loved him, needed to get his own life. He’d already asked him to cut the visits to Gila River in half. It was embarrassing enough to be a “Legacy player” or whatever, but when your dad showed up to most of your games? Yeah. <i>No</i>.<br/>3) He was done with the shit with Duke. A teenage crush was one thing. A teenage crush that moved with you from Juniors to the freaking NHL was another. Duke was doing his thing, dating girls. Max was more than capable to do the same thing. <br/>4) Possibly not with girls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a little sun shower'll fall upon you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [merryofsoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryofsoul/gifts).



It had been a long summer, not that Max was that annoyed by it. He’d gotten to play hockey, train, hang with his family. He’d even gotten the chance to travel some, by himself even. The novelty of having Orion with him hadn’t worn off. It was funny to him that having a dog made him feel like he finally had less of a leash on himself. 

(Even though he had to call his mom every day, but he figured he was doomed to do that for the rest of his life even if he DIDN’T have diabetes.) 

His summer of adventure had left him with a new sense of self. It wasn’t that he hadn’t like the year before, he loved playing for the Coyotes, loved his team. Hell, he even loved Phoenix even though it was a lot like living on the sun. What he didn’t like was the feeling of being a perma-rookie. At twenty-one he figured he was done with a few things. 

He thought of it as his Grown Up Max plan. 

1) He was done listening to the media. It wasn’t worth it to have all his decisions under a microscope and he didn’t need it in his life.   
2) His dad, as much as he loved him, needed to get his own life. He’d already asked him to cut the visits to Gila River in half. It was embarrassing enough to be a “Legacy player” or whatever, but when your dad showed up to most of your games? Yeah. _No_.  
3) He was done with the shit with Duke. A teenage crush was one thing. A teenage crush that moved with you from Juniors to the freaking NHL was another. Duke was doing his thing, dating girls. Max was more than capable to do the same thing.   
4) Possibly not with girls. 

He wasn’t saying he was done with Duke as a friend, far from it. He just needed to remember that he could have other friends. He didn’t have to _just_ hang out with Duke. Nor did he have to check his freaking phone to see if he’d called. 

He didn’t even call to see if Duke was home when he’d landed, or that whole day. He’d told himself he would wait two days. He’d grocery shopped. Done _and_ put away laundry. Taken Orion to the dog park. (That was a pretty dumb idea, even if it was 8pm. 100 degrees at 8 pm. Jesus.) 

When he got home from the dog park he noticed even his apartment felt sticky hot. It was like someone had left every single oven on all summer, which wasn’t as much of a shock this year as it was the year before. He cranked his AC up and stripped down to just his boxers. It helped. Enough that he didn’t exactly want to look up how to get traded to Calgary. 

The next morning (hour eighteen, not that he was counting) he’d gotten a text.

“ _In town and NO TEXT, what is that about? :/_ ” 

Along with a screenshot of the picture he’d instagrammed of him at the dog park.

Oh fuck, those geocached, didn’t they? Yup, right underneath. ‘Scottsdale, AZ’. Well, brilliant. At least it didn’t name the park? He was pretty sure he would get mauled by his mother if he was telling everyone his haunts. 

“ _Just got home last night. D’ya miss me THAT much?_ ” 

“ _Yeah, fucker, I’m coming over._ ” 

Max was in his boxers, just waking up and hadn’t actually showered since his plane ride, but there wasn’t time for that. Duke lived less than three miles from his house. Orion looked at him quizzically as he threw on some clothes and cursed up a storm. He let the dog out on the patio to pee. He tried to flatten his hair down a bit, to no avail, and was just putting on his cologne (was it too early for that?) when the door opened. 

He forgot Duke had a key. Damn it, Last Year Max was whipped. 

“YOU BETTER NOT BE BEATING OFF,” Duke called out, he heard the back door open and Orion came charging in. 

Max frowned. One time. He got caught ONE TIME. He walked out to find Duke looking at his phone, and when he looked up at Max he gave him a huge grin. He’d not quite _forgotten_ the Duclair Grin, but he hadn’t seen it in just long enough that it caught him off guard. 

“Hi,” he said, glad he didn’t stutter over the single syllable. 

“You’re back!” Duke said and took him into a giant crush of a hug. “It’s hot as shit outside.” 

Orion jumped up on Max’s side and Max’s brain clicked back into place. Meds. Time for meds. And then food. Which… it would be _rude_ not to invite Duke for food, right?

“Um. I got to take my insulin and shit, but you hungry?”

“Butters?” Duke asked, giving Orion a tentative pet after the dog went to sniff at him. 

Max nodded, going into the kitchen to grab his kit. As much as most of it sucked, the ritual was oddly comforting. He tested his blood, took his meds and cleaned it all up. He was at normal for him, which was good. That was another thing he’d focused on this summer. Grown Up Max was on top of his health even more than he’d been as a teen. 

He walked out to find Duke on the floor with his hand out to Orion, who was licking it happily. The dog loved Duke almost more than he loved Max, the traitor. It had been a problem when Duke lived with him because… 

“Wait, what the hell are you doing, dumbass? Do you want to breathe today?” Max frowned. He’d spent plenty of time listening to Duke complain about the ‘allergy demon’. 

Duke looked over at Max and gave a small smile. “I’ve been trying new allergy shots.” 

“You tried _all of them_ last year.” 

“Apparently not,” Duke said, getting up off his knees and brushing his jeans. “Now, we’re on the clock, thirty minutes or you tank. Let us go?” 

Max blinked, looking between the dog and Duke like they’d been sharing a secret of some sort. Which was patently ridiculous, but just the kind of shit Duke would pull. 

“Ohhhhkay,” he offered. “My car.” 

Duke rolled his eyes. “Control freak.” 

He brushed the comment off and grabbed his keys, leaning down to let Orion smell his breath before he went. “Back in a bit.” 

The dog whined, like he always did when Max left. 

*

Their Butters waitress, Megan, knew them the instant they sat down. Not from hockey but from the fact that they might have been there every week for the better part of the previous season. She smiled at Max and offered him a thing of bread even before he asked for it. He gave her his best smile. 

“What did we do to deserve you?” 

“What does anyone do to deserve me?” Megan grinned. “Though I’ll admit I missed your smiles, deserting me for months on end. Should I even ask what you want, or is it the usual?” 

Duke, who always insisted that he was going to get something different, looked up from the menu with a frown. “Usual.” 

“Can I get some…?” 

“Extra turkey bacon,” she winked. “It hasn’t been _that_ long.” 

They handed over their menus and Duke looked at him. “You know she’s been flirting with you for the better part of a year now…’ 

This time, he frowned. “What?” 

“Well, she flirts with you. All the time, I mean, I know you have zero game Domi, but are you blind?” 

He looked over at Megan, who was putting their order in and talking to one of her coworkers. She looked over at him and smiled and … wow. Okay. She might be flirting with him. He couldn’t help himself when he laughed. 

He was blind? He wanted to hold a mirror up to Duke’s face. 

“Wow, dick much? She’s hot,” Duke kicked at him under the table. “You could do worse and you couldn’t do much better, fucker.” 

“Ouch,” he kicked back. “She’s not my type, dude. She’s hot, no doubt. I’m just…” 

“Not that into hot chicks?” 

Not that into chicks. Though he wasn’t saying that. That was a newer development. He’d spent most of his life just kind of living on the assumption that he was middle of the road bi. He had a healthy appreciation for male bodies, he loved girls too… just. Recently he realized that his Kinsey scale was teetering towards the higher numbers. 

Or maybe they were skewed. He looked at Duke’s incredulous face, forgot for a moment what was going on and then caught up with himself and shrugged. “I’ve got a thing for someone. It makes others seem… Not right?” 

There was a long pause again and something flicked across Duke’s face before a smile returned. “Aww Maxxxxx, I leave you alone for a few weeks and you get a freaking crush? Need me to pass her a note?”

“Him,” he said, soft enough that he half hoped that Duke _wouldn’t_ hear and then he could feel the rush of bravery with absolutely jack of the consequences. 

By the sudden rush of water on the table, that was a definite no go. 

“Pardon?” 

Max new few things on earth for sure, but Duke reverting to Quebecois without meaning to was usually not the best. He looked up from the tablecloth to see that Duke was … well. Angry? Upset? Fuck, he was usually pretty ace at reading the guy’s face but he had no idea what the hell that one was. 

“Are you kidding?” 

Max felt a rush of righteous anger. Feelings for Duke aside, he knew the guy like a freaking brother in arms. (He tried not to think of it in the incest way, it was a team thing.) Duke would be the last to be a homophobic douche. He’d basically spent the year previous talking Mikkel out of being a dumbass and even when it didn’t work he was one of the group to cheer up Oliver. Why would it matter if HE was the one who was gay? 

“Are YOU kidding?” he said, then leaned in. “You got a problem with me liking guys? What the fuck, man?” 

Duke’s eyes went wide, like really really wide. And then he scooted his chair back a few inches. 

“Chnoutte,” he muttered. “Chnoutte, chnoutte, chnoutte.” 

And he knew what that meant, even though it wouldn’t have taken a genius to translate that it wasn’t a good phrase. Duke hesitated, looking like he might sit back down but then stormed out of the small restaurant, with pretty much all eyes on him. Max felt his stomach drop as he stared around the room, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that smartphones existed. He didn’t see any out, which was nice, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t been a minute ago. 

He stared down at the bread on his plate. He really did need to eat it, and the food that was coming. He was feeling shaky at best, mixture of adrenaline and the fact that the insulin was kicking in. He looked around again and tried to seem casual, thankful when the background chatter started up again. 

A little while later, having demolished some bread and drank all of the water at the table, Megan returned with his plate and a to go box. When he met her eyes he could see that she wanted to ask, but when she didn’t he couldn’t help but feel relieved. 

“Want the bill?” she asked softly. 

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “And water. More water, please.” 

She nodded and walked off. 

Not that he had wanted anything with her, but he was pretty sure any chance on earth he had had was gone. He was completely okay with that. 

*

He walked out of Butters to find that Duke was seated on the small fountain outside of it. He wasn’t looking up, but by the way his body straightened he knew that Duke was aware Max was outside. It had to be 100 out, at least, and he couldn’t help but wonder what the fuck Duke was doing until he realized what he held in his hands. 

The keys to his car. The car they took to this restaurant. 

He felt himself deflate, any hope of Duke taking whatever just happened in the restaurant back. 

“Get in the car,” he said, clicking the unlock button and shoving the bag that Megan had given him at Duke. 

Duke stood up and grabbed the bag, walking over to Max’s car and sliding into the passenger seat. If anything, it was hotter in the car. Freaking leather seats. He had not thought this through when he bought the dumb thing. 

He didn’t say anything as he backed up, nor as he aimed the car towards his condo. Instead, he put the music up as loud as he could stand it and avoided making any form of eye contact when he had to check his mirror. 

Almost the whole car ride went that way, Wale pumping out of his speaker and his eyes paying more attention to the road than he had since his driver’s test. But right before they made the last turn before his buildings Duke hit the off button and silence filled the car. 

“DUDE,” Max yelled, possibly letting his anger show a little too much. “WHAT THE FUCK?” 

“EYES ON THE ROAD,” Duke yelled back and Max looked in front of him and found nothing, which he would have gloated about but he didn’t want to gloat. He mostly wanted to drop Duke off at his car and avoid thinking about. But he turned into his building and went to the underground parking. 

Duke could walk to his fucking car, the douche. 

“What?” he snapped, trying to calm down but failing. 

“I … I’m sorry,” Duke basically whispered.

Max put a hand to his ear sarcastically. “Couldn’t hear you, what?” 

“I’m _sorry_ ,” Duke said again, louder. 

“Well you fucking should be,” Max said, his hands going back to grip the steering wheel. “You’re not a homophobic douchebag. Is it cause we like hang out a lot? Afraid the gay will rub off? Cause I’m not… gay. I like both, okay? So you’re safe.” 

Duke said something in French again, muttering it so that all he caught was his name and something about an ass. Which. Fuck you, Duke. 

“You can’t catch gay,” he said, like that was the ridiculous thing about the conversation. 

“I know, but I can’t figure out what the hell else would bring you to storm out of a restaurant chanting the word shit and making ME look like the guy who just broke up with…” 

It was like seeing the open slot of a goalie’s pads just as the puck released from your stick. Like the perfect play opening up in front of you. Everything just fell into place and his whole body tensed and then relaxed. He snapped his head over to Duke. 

“No fucking way.” 

Duke pressed his lips together and then went to lick them, which was so fucking not fair at that second. “I tried to tell you last year.” 

“There is no way you could have tried to tell me this last year. I would have heard you. Were we drunk? Were we in a bar? Was I asleep? Were you talking to Murphs?” 

Duke gave his least impressed look. “No, you ass. I wasn’t talking to Murphs. We were sober. After Mikkel got traded. You and I were talking about break ups. I said that it would be worse in a team, that it _was_ worse. Because then you moved and lost all your friends.” 

“How the hell was that TELLING me anything beyond the fact that you might have broken up with a girl during a trade one time?” 

Duke rubbed at his eyes. “ _Chnoutte._ ” 

“I’m telling Mama Duclair,” he said, a small laugh escaping. Because things were coming together in his brain and the last thing that he thought possible was maybe becoming a possibility. 

“We are talking about you liking me, right?” Max asked. He felt ridiculous, even thought back to the offer of passing a damn note. But if he was reading this wrong he would fuck it up even more. 

“I have been getting a shot once a week for a month trying to figure out if I could maybe move back in with your damn dog.” 

Max punched his arm, hard. “Don’t hate on Orion, fucker.” Then, after a second. “You want to move back in?” 

This time Duke laughed. “Way to catch up, Domi.” 

Max sagged back into his carseat, finally relaxing his hands and letting them fall in his lap. “You want to move in.” 

“Am I the guy you were talking about?”

He choked on a laugh. “Yes, dumbass.” 

“Then I want to move in again. If… you wanted to.” 

Max looked over at Duke and in a rush of courage tilted across the car to press their lips together, his hand landing on the back of Duke’s head. It took a few seconds for them to tilt and get it right but when they did his whole body went into it. After a few more seconds it was less just a kiss and more a battle between the two of them, which _of course_ it would be. 

He pulled back and he let out a breath. 

“What was that for?” Duke said, licking his lips. Max leaned in for another kiss. 

“I think maybe moving in before our first kiss would be pretty fast, right?” 

And if this was going to work Max was going to have to learn Quebecois fast, because he was pretty sure he was getting insulted, again. But then he was being kissed, which was pretty nice. 

*

They eventually made it back up to his condo. Orion was happy as hell to see them, licking and checking Max for a full minute before he’d jump up on Duke and kiss his face a few times. 

Max figured that was the closest to a thumbs up he’d get from the only other house mate. 

Duke moved in three days later. 

(After a lot of making up for lost time and a little wrangling to get him out of his lease.)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Umbrella" by Dog's Eye View
> 
> * chnoutte means shit


End file.
